LET’S TALK TURKEY

MarsTalk

How much turkey do Americans gobble up? Starting after WWII, when more productive turkey farming yielded cheaper turkey, we ate about 8 pounds. The 80s saw a massive jump—to over 17 pounds by 1990—driven by the fitness craze (aerobics!) and the vilification of red meat. But in 1981, a trademark battle between poultry and pork producers was finally resolved. Sparked by one producer marketing processed turkey as “Baked Tam” (get it?) the ruling paved the way for turkey bacon, pastrami, bologna, et al. Processors started thinking beyond whole-birds for holidays and the bird, once nominated by Ben Franklin to be our national bird, turned out to be a real source of American inspiration and ingenuity.